


Change

by brightclearline



Series: Marco Stark [2]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Marco is Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-02-24 15:54:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13217082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightclearline/pseuds/brightclearline
Summary: Set during Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Just when he thinks things are back to normal, Tony Stark runs into another Animorph.





	1. Chapter 1

MARCO

 

“No.”

“Tony, come on. It’s one little environmental meet-and-greet. Would it kill you -”

“It might.”

“ _ Tony.” _

“What?”

“Tux. Now. You’re going to smile, you’re going to dance, and you are going to schmooze the face off of Christine Crystal until she agrees to write us up in one of her “greenest companies” lists, okay?”

“I’ll be a perfect gentleman, Pepper, you know me. Christine will love me.”

“She goes by Chrissy, and you are  _ absolutely not _ going to mock her for her name.”

“Chrissy Crystal? Oh, come on, what is she, a Batman femme fatale? Who the hell names -”

“Or make Batman jokes.”

“Pepper-”

“Or Batman references. Of any kind.”

“Hippie jokes? Can I make those?”

“NO.”

“Sucking the fun out of this already, Miss Potts.”

“It’s what I live for, Mr. Stark.”

“Please, call me Tony.”

“Tux.”

“Getting dressed as we speak. You could have warned me. I don’t always have my spare tux just lying around -”

“Yes, you do. And you know you’d be halfway to Bolivia if I’d told you in advance. So get your cute little ass -”

“Can I quote you on that? I have an interview with -”

“-into your tux and get us on that list. You have no interviews.”

“You were much more fun before you added CEO to your business cards.”

“Tux. Schmooze. No insults.”

“I love you, too.”

\---------------------

“Tony, you get your ASS back in there right this minute -”

“Off my comm, Pepper.”

“I can see you on the news, I know you’ve left the party, what the hell did you say to Chrissy Crystal -”

“Chrissy Crystal, you’ve got to be kidding me -”

“Tell me you didn’t make fun of her name. Please tell you did not do EXACTLY what I told you not -”

“Hinterlands of Siberia my ass,  she’s been right down the damn street -”  Muffled thruster ignition.

Pause.

“Tony,  please tell me you did not sleep with Chrissy Crystal.”

Silence.

“Tony.”

_ Beeeeeeeeep. _ Dial tone.

“TONY!”


	2. Chapter 2

She was fairly certain she’d come this way before.

_ Bearandeagleandelephantandcheetahandbat _

Cold.

She shivered, trying to bring her hands up to rub a little feeling into her arms, but - 

_ “Careful! Hold her arms, don’t let her move.” _

Strange. There should be blankets, there should be -

_ Treesandcavesandburrowsandgreengreenfieldsformiles _

Home. She should be home, she should help -

_ Who? _

_ SmilingfrowningangryhappyeyesfaceshandsWHO _

She blinked her eyes open. Focused, after a long blurry minute, on the face in front of her. A needle plunged into her arm and warmth started to spread through her chest, loosening her limbs.

“Hello,” the face said, smiling pleasantly. “Shall we begin?”

She nodded, grateful for the relief his words and the blessed, blessed warmth brought.

“Your target - ”

She listened to him drone, letting her head fall back against the chair as she mentally catalogued the details he provided, memorized the faces he held in front of her.

Obediently touched the warm, fleshy arm of the long-haired, silver-handed man whose eyes felt as empty as she did.

“Good,” the face said. “Complete your mission, then come home.”

She blinked at him, feeling an entirely different warmth spreading through her chest.

_ Deathandkillingandbloodanddangerandfear _

The corners of her mouth lifted in what could have been a smile.

Home.


	3. Chapter 3

MARCO

 

In retrospect, blowing out of the party in my suit might not have been the best idea. See? Self-awareness. Totally growing as a person, no need to drag me into the conference room by my tie and demand answers.

“I didn’t sleep with her, okay?” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, peering down into my drink to keep from looking Pepper in the eye. “We just - we were friends. Way back. When we were -” I expelled a rush of air in what could have been a laugh. “- kids.”

“Friends.” Pepper’s jaw didn’t quite drop, but I could tell it wanted to. “You were...friends...with Christine Crystal.”

“Well, I mean -”

“You were FRIENDS with CHRISTINE CRYSTAL and you didn’t think to TELL ME? How many times did I talk about the articles she wrote about us, how many times did I talk to you about mass-producing our greener options BECAUSE OF HER and you never thought to MENTION that you two were FRIENDS?!”

“To be fair -”

“Ooooh, I am so not up for being fair right now, Tony!”

“I didn’t know it was her, ok?”

“Well, you’d better damn well learn to tell, because she is waiting in my office right now and you are going to talk to her.”

“Pepper -”

“Don’t “Pepper” me, Tony, you are going to apologize for whatever the hell you did and you are going to do it now.”

Scowling, I pulled a bottle out from under the table by the door and refilled my glass. Downed it. Poured another.

“Tony.” She leaned back against the conference table and held out a hand expectantly. “Please.”

I downed the next glass, filled it again, and handed her the bottle. “Yeah, yeah.”

\------

There she was. Cassie the Animorph. Staring blankly at some random work of art I knew I should have been able to identify (and probably focus my eyes on).

I’d like to say she was exactly the way I remembered her, but that would be a lie. She still kept her hair short, she was still stocky and muscular and looked out of place in a dress.

But she’d grown. Not up - my (admittedly small) growth spurt in my late teens now meant I could look down on her by an inch or two. She just seemed more comfortable in her skin, more -

She turned to face me and I forgot all about my analysis in a rush of old, worn-over anger.

“Hi, Marco,” she said with a small, tense smile.

“It’s Tony, actually,” I slurred slightly. Derisively. “Chrissy.”

“Are you drunk?” she asked, sniffing.

“So judgemental,” I grumbled. “This is a reunion, I reserve the right to employ social lubricants.”

She wrinkled her nose at me, but said nothing.

We sat in silence for a minute.

“So -” she folded her arms tightly over her chest. “Aliens, huh?”

“Yeah.” I tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a giggle. “Who could have guessed? Not alone in the universe after all.”

“Does Pepper -?”

“No!” 

“Oh.”

“Not - I mean. No. No, she doesn’t.” I shrugged. “Don’t need Captain Animorph knocking on my door again, you know?” I knocked back my drink and went hunting for a new bottle. "Though apparently the follow-up interview is with Mother Nature," I muttered. Success! The label on the bottle was just a bit too blurry to read, but the shape was familiar.

“Captain -” She looked at me. “Jake? He’s still -” She cleared her throat. “I mean, he’s not - I didn’t think he was still -”

“I thought-” I blinked at her, pausing with the bottle suspended over my glass. “I thought you were still -” I tried to make a lewd gesture with my hands but the bottle got in the way. “You’re not - working with them?”

She frowned at me. “Them? What them? What are you talking about?”

“Seriously, Cassie,” I marveled at her. “People from the government? Black suits, sticks up their asses, made lots of shushing noises whenever we used the “a” word? I mean -” I stopped for a second, feeling the room dip a little as I considered. “Ok, yeah, any “a” word, really.” I refocused on her. “Ringing any bells?”

“Well, yeah -”

“And you don’t work for them? Seriously?”

“Marco, I work with  _ Greenpeace _ , remember? I haven’t talked to those people since they made me sign away, you know,” she gestured vaguely between us, “this.”

I laughed, sharp and brittle. “Oh, so you mean you haven’t seen them since the last time you saw me, is that what you’re saying?”

“Marco -”

“It’s  _ Tony _ .” I slammed my drink down on the desk, getting a perverse sense of satisfaction out of seeing her jump. “And I think we’re done here.”

“What the hell is  _ wrong _ with you?”

“What’s wrong with  _ me? _ ” I turned, meeting her fire with my own. “What, did you and Jake just decide I wasn’t necessary, all those years ago? Good old Marco, Rachel didn’t mean anything to him so we can just go off and leave him all alone. Well, congratulations, Mother Nature, because you were right. I  _ didn’t _ need you, and I still fucking don’t. So get the hell out of my house and crawl back into whatever hole you two crawled into.” I clenched my hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

She stared at me. “You think we left you,” she said slowly, “together?”

I picked up my drink again and downed it. “Not a difficult deduction, Sherlock.”

“Mar-Tony, what contract did you sign? What did it say?”

I blinked down at my glass, suddenly drained. “Same one we all signed. Nothing happened, aliens aren’t real, no morphing.” I smiled, but it was all teeth. “And my addendums, of course, about being rich and famous.”

She stepped forward, taking my glass from my hand and setting it down on the table. “Tony, I think we need -”

CRASH

The first bullet took me in the lung, clearly meant for my heart. The second slammed into my stomach, and I felt a third whistle past my head as Cassie bodyslammed me into the carpet.

“Shitshitshitshitshit,” Cassie snarled, dragging me behind my desk. “Marco, morph. Where the hell is your security?”

“It’s Tony,” I gasped petulantly, briefly noting the whistle in my voice. It was strangely hard to breathe. Couldn’t think why. Couldn’t-

My head rocked back, ears ringing from Cassie’s slap. When did she get so  _ violent?   _ “MORPH, Marco!”

I shook my head. “Not s’posed to.”

She ducked out of my field of vision for a second, then back. “Ok, Tony, I need to you focus. Can you do that for me, Tony?”

I coughed, feeling a vague tearing sensation deep within me. Weird. It didn’t feel nearly as bad as that time when I was a -

“Tony, I need you to look at me, ok? You’re going to do what I do.”

I blinked my eyes open, watching as fur sprouted on her arms. I shuddered, my whole body shaking with panic.

“Tony!” The fur disappeared and she grabbed my face, forcing me to look at her. “You listen to me, Tony or Marco or whatever the hell you want to be called. You are going to morph your way out of this RIGHT NOW. You need to deal with this or you are going to die. Do you hear me?”

Nope. Not hearing her. Not allowed to hear her. Had to stay human, had to stay -

“Wolf, Marco, go wolf!”

There was a weird itching in my teeth, and then -


	4. Chapter 4

CASSIE

 

I dropped Marco’s hand as it became a paw, swiveling toward the window. There was a flash of movement from the rooftop outside, and I was off.

_ Wolfwolfwolfwolf _

I stripped my outer clothes as I ran, careful not to tangle my limbs in them as my legs sprouted fur and turned into the powerful hindquarters of the wolf.

I was good at this, not even breaking stride as my fingers stripped the last button from my dress before they merged seamlessly into my front paws. The dress dropped behind me and I fell forward, fully wolf.

An open window! I sprang through it onto the roof outside. It was just a little too far for comfort. My nails scrabbled on the roof for purchase as I hauled my wolf body up and over.

Should have gone Hork-Bajir. Better for rooftop navigation. But that would violate my contract - wouldn't it? 

Except I already had. I’d met with Marco.

Was that what this was all about? Was this the price for breaking my word? They'd been clear, all those years ago - no contact, or else. 

What else? 

On the far end of the roof, a tall figure turned to face me.

I growled, hackles rising as I stalked forward. I had him cornered. There was nowhere to go from here. The city dropped away behind the assassin, moving from high-rises to some tiny park.

Gunshots!

Marco’s bodyguards must have finally arrived. The assassin jerked backward as bullets pinged off the metal arm. One found a joint in his armor, and he stumbled to one knee as it ripped through his leg.

_ NO! _

I howled my anger, feeling the wolf’s instincts rise to meet my own as it smelled blood. I wanted to rip - I wanted to tear - I wanted -

My howl must have confused the shooters; they’d stopped. 

Good. The wolf wanted this bastard all to itself.

Some distant part of me was wringing its hands pathetically, whispering that Marco was okay, that the hulking cyborg  _ thing _ in front of me hadn’t actually managed to kill my friend.  _ Mercy _ , it whispered.  _ Capture it, question it, killing is never - _

I hadn’t lost myself in a morph in a while.

It felt good.

I gathered my legs beneath me, watching the assassin stagger to his feet. The wolf smelled blood and anger and - something familiar.

I leapt.


	5. Chapter 5

MARCO   


  
I awoke to the steady rhythmic hum of a Ford POS. It was almost calming, and I burrowed down deeper into the slightly scratchy blanket thrown over me, drifting again. I’d been having the weirdest dream -

No.

Not a dream.

Shit.

“Please tell you’re not here, Cassie,” I said quietly, not daring to open my eyes. “Tell me I’m sitting next to Pepper, or Happy, and we’re in a weirdly loud Ferrari heading home, and I didn’t just get SHOT.”

There was a silence so pointed I had to open my eyes. Cassie took her eyes off the road long enough to raise her eyebrows at me.

Scowling, I struggled to lever my seat upright. The darkness was absolute outside the car, swallowing everything but the road directly in front of our high beams.

I calmly folded my hands in my lap. “So.”

Cassie gave a little huff. “Yes?”

“This is not New York.”

“Your powers of perception are astounding, Mr. Stark.”

I blinked, surprised at the snark. “Alright, smartass, where the hell are we?”

She tensed. “You’ve been asleep about three hours.”

“Not an answer. Please tell me that was not an answer. Tell me you’re not going to say we’re -”

“Three hours west of New York,” she supplied, tightening her grip on the wheel. “Not sure where, I’ve been cutting back and forth a bit.”

“Not sure where.” 

“No.”

“You took us out of New York, and you’re not sure where, exactly, we are.”

“Yes.”

I was actually very impressed with how levelheaded I managed to sound. “Why?”

“I-” She glanced over at me again. “Tony, you were shot by - by some  _ thing _ . I had to get you out of there. I needed to get us somewhere safe, somewhere -”

“Cassie, I have security! I  _ own bulletproof metal suits _ . In  _ what world _ is it safer to take us to the ass-crack of nowhere?”

“I panicked, ok!”

“Panicked?  _ Panicked? _ No, panicking would be running around screaming. Panicking would be hiding under a table crying. You  _ drove us to the middle of nowhere _ while I am apparently being stalked by an  _ assassin _ . This is SO FAR BEYOND PANICKING.”

“You were shot!” she screamed back, swerving slightly into the other equally-deserted lane. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve  _ seen _ that? You almost  _ died _ and it would have been all my fault!”

“Phone. Now,” I snarled. “Not sure if you remember some big brouhaha in New York, but I have new friends now. Ones who might have been able to help us if you hadn’t  _ fled the damn city _ .”

She glared at the road, but handed over her cell phone without a word.

I dialed Fury’s number, fingers trembling slightly with anger. 

It took a few rings before - “Who is this?”

That was so not Fury’s voice. “Same question for you, buttercup. Where’s Nick?”

Pause. “Tony?”

“Natasha. Why do you have Fury’s phone?” I paused, wincing. “Never mind, don’t want to know, don’t care, just put him on. I have a problem.”

“I -” she seemed lost. “Tony, Fury’s dead.”

“Not in the mood for jokes, Natasha.”

“Neither am I,” she snapped. “An assassin shot him in Steve’s apartment. Whatever your problem is, it can wait.”

“Yeah? Because someone tried to kill  _ me _ tonight and they almost succeeded.”

That made her stop. “Did you see the shooter?”

“Cas -” I stopped. “Someone else did.”

“Metal arm,” Cassie supplied, clearly listening in. She looked strangely uncomfortable. “Long brown hair, red star on his shoulder. Smelled like -”

I gestured viciously and she stopped, looking chagrined. “You get that?” I asked.

“Smell?” Natasha asked. “How close was he?”

“Close enough. You know anything about him?”

She was quiet for a moment.

“Natasha?”

“It’s the same guy who shot Fury,” she said finally. “Time?”

“9 p.m.?” I glanced at Cassie and she nodded confirmation.

“He moves fast,” Natasha observed. “Tony, I need you to come in. SHIELD’s going to want a debrief. Where are you?”

“That’s not happening,” Cassie hissed. “Hang up the phone.”

“I can hear her, Tony,” Natasha said. “Who are you with? Are you -”

Cassie snatched the phone away and threw it out the window.

“ _ Seriously? _ ” I snarled. “Do you really think I can’t stop someone from tracking a phone?”

“I don’t  _ know _ what you can do!” she snarled right back. “And you don’t know what  _ they _ can do!”

“Oh, and you do?”

“No, but if they can gun down this friend of yours in - I’m assuming that was Captain America’s apartment your friend was talking about? - what the hell do you think they could do to us?”

I frowned at her. “Us? Seriously? Cassie, there is no  _ us _ . My  _ friend _ was the head of SHIELD. This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with whatever shitstorm -”

“I don’t give a  _ shit _ who your friend was!” She stopped, looking horrified at the words that had come out of her mouth. “I’m - I’m sorry. I didn’t mean -” she stopped.

I looked down at my hands, strangely uncomfortable at hearing the venom in her voice.

“I think it’s them,” she said finally. “I don’t know why they’d go after the head of SHIELD - maybe he found out something about the Yeerks? - but I think they attacked you because we broke the contract.”

I waved a hand dismissively. “Neither of us morphed until after I was shot. It can’t be that.”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Cassie shot me a sidelong look. “Morphing wasn’t in my contract, Marco.”

“It’s Tony,” I said stiffly. In all the excitement, I’d forgotten how angry I was. “So, morphing’s not in your contract. Great. Good for you. And?”

“And seeing you - either of you - was,” she said quietly. 

“Seeing - seeing either of us,” I parrotted. “You signed away...us.”

She nodded, eyes glued to the road.

“So.” I swallowed. “Not in league with Captain Animorph, then.”

“His name’s Jake, Marco,” she said, sounding suddenly exhausted. “And no. I’m not in  _ league _ with anyone. Haven’t been for a while.”

I didn’t bother to correct her on my name. Didn’t feel like the time, somehow.

Didn’t feel like the time for any of this. “So,” I said abruptly. “Where to? What’s the plan? Are we crashing in a cheap hotel or finding some friendly Hork-Bajir to cozy up to in the woods?”

She sighed, happy I'd come around but clearly recognizing that I was deflecting. Well, good for her. “I don’t trust hotels. Earth might be light on Hork-Bajir these days, but I figure the woods are still good for camping.”

She rolled down the window and stuck her head out, slowing as we came up to a tiny dirt road. Fur spread across her face, nose elongating, but other than that nothing changed.

I’d forgotten how good she was at this. Clearly, while I’d been trying to forget I’d ever been anything but human, she’d been practicing.

“Smell any hot alpha males out there?” I joked, shifting in my seat to alleviate the sudden clenching in my stomach.

She pulled her head back in, nose swiftly reverting to human. “No predators near. And no humans have been down this road for at least six months.”

She turned the wheel and we bumped our way over uneven tracks. 

“This should be fun,” I muttered under my breath. “Iron Man and Wolf Girl, sleeping in the dirt.”


	6. Chapter 6

MARCO

 

“Well, this is uncomfortably familiar,” I grumbled, flopping down on the grass. “You know, I swore I’d never go camping again after -” I stopped.

Cassie settled down into the grass next to me, stretching out with her hands behind her head. She seemed much more relaxed now that we were one with nature (of course). We’d left the car under some brush off the side of the tiny - I guess you’d call it a road? - before wandering with some weird sense of wolf nose-guided purpose for what felt like miles using only the light of an electric lantern Cassie had pulled from the trunk. I was in pretty good shape, all things considered, but it felt good to just lay there, letting my aching legs rest. 

We sat in comfortable silence, staring at the stars. It’d been a long time since I’d looked - really looked - at them.

“Do you ever wonder -” I stopped, not entirely sure what to say.

“All the time,” Cassie said softly.

I turned my head to look at her. She was gazing up at the stars, something unreadable in her eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“Toby. The other Hork-Bajir. Tobias.” She smiled briefly. "Ax."

I huffed a breath. “That whole mind-reading thing you’ve got going on? Creepy.”

She smiled, not really listening. “How do you think they’re doing?”

“You mean do I think they’re alive?” I muttered, picking absently at the grass next to my head.

She punched me lightly in the shoulder. “Happy thoughts, metal boy.”

I scowled at her. “I’m sure the Hork-Bajir are having lots of little babies out there on Hork-Bajiria and Tobias is totally the world’s longest-living hawk and he tells little mini-Tobys bedtime stories in their cozy tree houses.”

She rolled over to face me. “The Yeerks are gone,” she said quietly. “I’m sure Tobias had a good life.”

“Yeah.” I rolled away from her, curling into a more comfortable position. “I’m sure he did.”


	7. Chapter 7

CASSIE

 

“So, something’s been bothering me,” Marco ( _ Tony) _ said the next morning, dropping a bundle of (far too green) wood next to me as I stoked our tiny campfire. Whatever maudlin fit he’d had last night, it seemed to have been replaced by something a little more pressing.

“What’s that?”

He kicked idly at the dirt. “I got shot.”

I winced. “Yeah.”

“And now I’m - not shot.”

“You are.” I spared him a glance, not sure where he was going with this.

“So-” he frowned down at the ground. “How - how was it? The - the morphing thing, I mean.”

I laughed. “You were fine, Marco. Ugly as sin when I left, but fine.”

“I’m serious, Cassie,” he said, squatting down next to me. “Did anything go wrong? The last time I tried to morph, I ended up almost drowning as a half-shark, half-squid.”

I cast about for something - anything - to say. It’d been so long since I’d had to be in this position, it was difficult to remember what I’d do to make Marco ( _ TonyTonyTony he goes by Tony) _ feel better.

Then it hit me. “Wait, half-shark -”

“Yeah. You caught me.” He ghosted a laugh. “Sharktopus was my idea.”

I laughed.

“So, seriously, if anything weird happened yesterday, just tell me. I haven’t morphed in, like, twenty years, and if something’s going to go wrong next time that scary-ass robot-armed assassin shows up, I’d like to know.”

“No, you were fine,” I said absently, trying not to think of swirling smoke and flashes of blonde.  _ It couldn’t have been her. _ “Totally wolf, all the way.”

He sighed. “Cassie, come on. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

_ Shitshitshit. _ I tried not to blush, but I could feel my cheeks getting hot. “What do you mean?” I squeaked, bending over the tiny fire so he couldn’t see my face.

“ _ That’s _ what I mean. C’mon, Cassie, you’re a terrible liar, it’s written all over your face.” He pouted. “What, did I actually turn into a wolf-lobster yesterday? Is that what you’re not telling me? Did I have little lobster claws on the end of my furry wolfy arms?” 

“No!” I tried to laugh, but it sounded way too high-pitched to my ears. “Seriously, M- Tony, you were definitely heading toward wolf when I left. No lobster claws.”

“Then  _ what? _ ” he asked plaintively. 

“It’s nothing,” I said quietly, poking at the fire with a stick. “I just - it was dark, I couldn’t really see-”

He groaned. “Great. Just great. What was it? Tell me it wasn’t ant. Seriously, I’d been fine with a freaking wolf-Bajir, just tell me I didn’t become an ant.” He shuddered almost melodramatically, but there was something in his eyes - “C’mon, Cassie, just tell me, I swear I can take it, just tell me if I-”

“I think it was Rachel!” I burst out.

He stopped. “Well, shit. Shit, I’m so sorry, Cassie, I swear I would never morph her if I had any control -”

“No,” I cut him off, looking him in the eyes for the first time. “Not - not you. Marco, I think the assassin was Rachel.”

He sat back on the log.

“Cassie?” he said slowly. “You-”

“I know,” I muttered. “I know! It couldn’t have been her, but I thought - just before he - she - just before the assassin jumped off the roof, I thought I saw -” I stopped. Cleared my throat. “I thought I saw him change. Shrink. Turn - turn blonde.” I shrugged, trying to smile. “And, you know, grow what maybe could have been Rachel’s face?”

We sat in silence for a minute.

“Well,” Marco said at last, shoulders slumping. “That complicates things.”

I peeked up at him. “You’re not going to ask me if I’m insane?”

He smiled at me tiredly. “I’m not thirteen anymore, Cassie. I grew a vocabulary.”

I smiled back.

“And, you know, I kind of figured it was a given?” he said, squaring his shoulders. “I mean, even outside of our childhood spent turning into animals to fight off aliens, you now save animals by  _ turning into them _ \- completely going against our contract, by the way, and have I told you how badass that makes you? - and I make metal suits to fight off portal-jumping space invaders and their whales. At this point, I’m just assuming we all ended up in a mental institute years ago and this is us reliving our glory days.”

"Morphing wasn't in my contract," I reminded him with a little smile. I knew what he was doing, but I couldn’t help but feel better. “So you believe me?” I asked quietly.

“Of course I do,” he said. “We’re crazy, remember?” He slid a hand over to cover mine on the log. 


	8. Chapter 8

MARCO

 

I blinked my way into consciousness, panting with pain. Frantically, I grabbed at my chest, reassuring myself that the arc reactor was safe and whole and - ok, nope, we’re good. No danger there. I took a careful breath, willing the room to stop spinning.

Concussion? Ok, maybe a concussion. The room was a little too wobbly. Arms - fine. Chest - ribs bruised and breathing difficult, but ok. Legs -

Notfinenotfinenotfine. My back arched with pain as I shifted my leg what was apparently the exact wrong way - broken, definitely broken, son of a bitch -

I sucked in a breath and chanced a look at my leg. A heavy manacle encircled my left ankle, which was twisted in a way it was most definitely not supposed to go.

Perfect. And I still wasn’t sure about this whole morphing thing.

I glanced around me, trying to think through the fog in my brain. The last thing I remembered was the woods, and some weird stew Cassie had made out of tree bark and what seemed like animal unmentionables and -

Explosions and guns and Cassie, slumped against a tree, red staining the back of her head.

Where the hell was Cassie? The large crates surrounding me didn’t allow me to look far, but she had to be here somewhere.

She had to be. Surely not even a head wound could keep her down.

Noise. I sucked in a deep breath at the unmistakable sound of a door opening beyond the crates.

Heavy footsteps. One - two sets? I lay back, shutting my eyes just enough so I could see dim shapes.

That didn’t last long.

“Wake up.” A jerk on the chain around my leg and I - made a very manly noise of agony, eyes flying open.

Standing at the foot of my cot was the Winter Soldier.

And standing next to him, flexing his metal fingers was - the Winter Soldier.

Well, this was weird.

Soldier #1 wrapped my chain around his hand almost absently, staring down at me with the same creepy intensity.

“He’s your mission,” Soldier #2 said gruffly.

“Yes,” said Soldier #1.

“You haven’t killed him.”

“No,” said Soldier #1.

Soldier #2 nodded as if this made perfect sense. “He knows - the man.”

“Your man,” Soldier #1 said sharply.

“My man,” Soldier #2 agreed. “I want -”

“Still here,” I said, waving a hand from my prone position. “Not deaf.”

They turned back to face me. Ok, maybe not such a good idea.

“On second thought,” I waved again, this time between the two of them. “Carry on, nothing to see here. Fascinating discussion you’ve got going, great vocabulary. Don’t let me interrupt.”

“You talk too much,” Soldier #2 observed.

“I had heard that.”

Soldier #1 pulled sharply on my chain, and I bit back a moan.

“Tell us about the wolf woman.”

“And the -” Soldier #2 stopped, glaring suddenly at Soldier #1. “Captain America.”

I blinked up at him, thrown for a loop.

“Cassie,” Soldier #1 supplied. “She said her name was Cassie.” He cocked his head to the side. “They took her.”

“Took her?” I felt my heart start to race. “Who? Who took her? Is she ok?”

“Captain America,” Soldier #2 bit out. “What about him?”

“Yeah, sorry, not too worried about the Star-Spangled Man right now,” I snapped back. “Who the hell took Cassie?”

“They took her. She’s gone,” Soldier #2 said dismissively. “Answer the question.”

Soldier #1 turned on him, inadvertently dragging me a few agonizing inches by the chain. “She is not gone. My catch. My questions.”

The silvery gleam of Soldier #2’s arm rippled as he clenched his fist, but before they could go at it I heard the distinctive popping of gunfire outside.

Their heads snapped up as one. Soldier #1 mercifully remembered to drop my chain before they ducked back around the crates in unison.

I heard the pounding of heavy feet moving away - then silence.

Alright. Morphing time. Had to repair that leg, had to get out of these chains...had to find Cassie.

I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. Wolf, that was a good one. I’d done it before, Cassie had said it had gone fine…

I could feel sweat trickling down my face, but I couldn’t keep the image in my mind. Wolf, lobster, ant, dolphin... I cracked an eye open, looking down for any changes.

Nothing.

Ok, maybe that was a good thing. No wolf, but at least I hadn’t grown gills and suffocated.

Bright side. Silver lining. I could do this. I’d done it before. Cassie wouldn’t lie to me.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember the wolf I used to become and block out everything else (including memories of that horrible werewolf from Harry Potter, or that ridiculous Wolfman movie...could I end up like that? I’d morphed humans before - what if I became half them, half wolf? _No, Cassie wouldn’t lie, she’s too good - too good at manipulating, too good at getting everyone to do what she wanted, too good -_ )

My eyes shot open in panic, jerking on my chains in an attempt to see if all my parts were there, making sure I hadn’t turned into anything strange. I moved my leg and I let out a half-shout of pain, thumping my head back against the metal frame of the cot. There was a strange pain in my chest, and I couldn’t breathe. Heart attack? Could be a heart attack. Morphing should have fixed the problems with my heart, but it wasn’t like nothing ever went wrong on a genetic level - _Seriously, dude, panic attack. We’ve been through this. Breathe. You’re not dying._

“Tony?”

I opened my eyes to see Captain America leaning over me. He looked like hell, pale and sweating and favoring his stomach, but he might as well have had a halo of saintliness surrounding his head. I swear I heard a choir of angels.

“Cap!”

“Tony, what the hell?” Cap hissed. “Why are you here? Why are there-” He broke off, turning toward a sound from beyond the crates.

“Cap-”

He raised a hand, cutting me off, and disappeared behind the crates.

“Son of a-” I yanked futilely at my chains, but the bed was bolted to the floor and I wasn’t going anywhere.   _Morph, you dumbass!_

I could hear a scuffle from the other side of the crates. The gunfire outside was louder now, more explode-y.

I concentrated again, desperate. If I didn’t do this now, I’d be stuck recuperating from a broken leg for weeks to keep people from finding out. I cast about for something - anything! - that I could focus on long enough to get the hell out of here.

My mind found Euclid.

Right, no trauma there. Just the yapping, evil dog that had belonged to my father’s second wife - who I’d conveniently lied to him about when my mom came back from the dead. Nora? Sure, Dad, she definitely only married you because she was an evil parasitic alien!

Surprisingly, focusing on that worked. Who knew shame could be such a great motivator? I felt my feet twist and shrink, fur sweep down my legs…

Somehow, I got lucky. The first changes happened below the belt, and I could feel my bones knitting themselves back together as they shifted into the teeny paws of a poodle.

Damn lucky Cap kept his battle on the other side of the crates. Not sure what he would have made of the torso of Tony Stark sitting on top of the tiny lower body of a poodle, tail, curly white fur and all.

The tabloids would have had a field day with this.

With a horrific crunching noise, I felt my leg snap into position, safely poodle-fied and all fixed up. I slumped backward, relieved, and reversed the morph.

Nothing happened.

 _Shit_ . I tried to focus on my original lower half, but for some reason my mind kept jumping to my fondest childhood memories. _Remember that time you almost got stuck as a giant flea? Oh hey, didn’t you get to hold your own gorilla intestines once (or twice or three times or -)? What about that time a shark bit you in half?_

The noises were getting closer. I could almost distinguish Cap’s grunts of pain between the loud _ping_ s of something glancing off his shield.

I clenched my fist, sweat stinging the tiny cuts on my cheek. _Don’t you dare get fucking stuck as a half-poodle, you dumbass. The fuck kind of suit are you going to create once you’re like this permanently? Think Pepper’ll still stay with you if your important bits are all dog?_

Slowly, slowly, the fur on my legs started to recede. I wiggled my toes as they appeared, trying to keep my pants on my elongating body as my legs filled them out, kicking the metal cuff out of the way as I grew.

Not a moment too soon - just as I managed to wriggle my way back into decency, one of the Winter Soldiers came sprawling into the crates to my left. Magnetic cuffs encircled his legs and his metal arm hung dead at his side, sparking slightly.

Cap followed him, more magnetic cuffs in his hand, and they disappeared into the forest of (now splintered) crates as a team of soldiers fanned out behind him.

“Mr. Stark!” one them said. “Sir, are you injured?”

I slumped back onto the cot, suddenly exhausted, and let the soldiers take over.

 

\----

 

It hadn’t taken long for Captain America and his loyal minions to finish securing their captured Winter Soldier and sweeping the area for his doppelganger. Come to find out, I hadn’t even been the focus of Cap’s “rescue” - he’d been after the Winter Soldier (who was actually his childhood friend?) and stumbled on me by accident.

I hadn’t even been the focus of Hydra  - from the sound of it, the main event had already happened over the Potomac.

Project Insight would have almost certainly killed me anyway. They just wanted to be extra special sure I ended up dead.

Hooray for me.

As it turned out, a lot had happened while Cassie and I were on our little camping trip. Pepper filled me on all the details - Hydra was SHIELD, SHIELD was Hydra, dogs and cats living together -

And, oh yeah, Cassie was still gone, and so was one of the Winter Soldiers.

But one Winter Soldier - well, one Winter Soldier was locked in a cell as everyone still left standing tried to figure out who was in charge.

Through the observation window, I could see a hulking figure sitting slumped on the bed. Scientists were gathered at the window with me, murmuring among themselves. It took me a second to see what had them enthralled.

Without warning, the brown hair of the Winter Soldier sucked into the scalp of the prisoner, leaving him bald. Simultaneously, he seemed to shrink, folding in on himself as blonde hair sprouted and fell to cover his shoulders. Almost as soon as it had finished growing, the hair sucked back in, only to sprout again as shorter brown hair as the prisoner’s body swelled.

Over and over. Blonde to brown to blonde to brown, muscles thickening clothing before dwindling down again. _She has to be getting tired._

I felt sick. Cassie had said - but I never truly thought, never truly believed.

“-never was your friend, Captain.”

I turned as Maria Hill and Steve rounded the corner. Pepper followed behind, clearly trying to give them space.

“There were two of them, Maria,” Steve said firmly, giving me a perfunctory nod. “I’m not convinced one of them wasn’t -”

One of the scientists broke away from the pack, nodding to the group. “The subject is still shifting. Four hours, no change.” She stopped. “Or, I mean -”

“I know what you mean, Doctor.” Hill put a firm hand on Steve’s shoulder, steering him to the window. “Captain, look at this and tell me you’re sure the other one wasn’t the same damn thing.”

I stood to the side, mute. Pepper gave me a tiny smile and bumped her shoulder against mine as she came to stand beside me, no sign of her earlier relieved tears on her perfect face. _I don’t deserve you._

Hill cast a questioning look my way, clearly surprised that I was here. And, you know, not running my mouth. Making some joke about the devastation on Captain America’s face as he watched Rachel turn into his friend.

I should talk. Make a joke. Can’t let them think something’s wrong, can’t let them know I know -

Why? SHIELD was gone, Hydra was gone, for all I knew my contract had sunk to the bottom of the Potomac with the helicarriers.

Somebody had Cassie. That mattered. Rachel was here, alive. That mattered. Jake was - gone, and that didn’t matter.

Unless the people who had Cassie were the contract holders. Cassie seemed convinced that something bad would happen if we - well, if we did what we did.

Couldn’t risk it. Not until I knew for sure that our mysterious watchers (and Jake?) weren’t still ...watching.

Suddenly, the room seemed a lot smaller. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up and I felt my chest tighten. _You’re fine. Keep breathing. Pepper’s safe. They can’t get you here._

Unless they were already here. Unless they’d been here all along. _Unless Jake’s really on their side._

I felt a sudden urge to itch at (hopefully) nonexistent fleas.

“-nothing we’ve ever seen before,” another scientist was saying earnestly. “DNA matches James Buchanan Barnes, but the subject won’t let us get close enough for another sample when it shifts into the girl.”

“Any sign of it shifting into anything else?” Pepper asked.

“No. Just Sergeant Barnes and the teenager.” The scientist shrugged helplessly. “We’ve analyzed the metal arm. Just a sheath, modified to enhance strength.”

Hill glanced back at me again, eyebrows raised. “Enjoying the view, Stark?”

“Yes, actually,” I said, stepping forward. “Fascinating prisoner you’ve got here.”   _Say something science-y, dumbass, they’re getting suspicious._ “Any idea where the extra mass is going?”

“Extra -” the scientist blinked me. The heads of the group by the window came up, one by one.

“Extra mass.” I pointed at Rachel, willing my heart not to beat too loud. “The girl’s significantly smaller than Barnes. Conservation of mass, all that. Where’s it going? Where’s it coming from? Is this some weird Hulk thing?”

The entire group lit up with curiosity. They turned back into their little huddle, whispering furiously. _That’s right, try to discover Z-space. See how far you get._

HIll turned from the window, crossing her arms. “You were with it for what, 24 hours?”

“No idea,” I said easily, trying to remember which story I’d told her. I’d definitely left out the camping trip in the woods - or maybe just Cassie being there? “I was out cold for a lot of it, but Stars and Stripes is right - there were at least two.”

“At least?” Hill raised an eyebrow, and Steve tore his eyes away from the window.

I shrugged. “I only ever saw two at time. Doesn’t mean there weren’t more.”

Steve paled, and I felt something twist in my gut at the lie. _Sorry, dude. I can’t let you follow this down the rabbit hole until I know it’s safe._

“You think it’s some kind of gang of shapeshifters?” Steve asked, steel entering his tone. “Are they Hydra?”

“That’s what I want to find out.” I nodded at the window. “I want to talk to - it. It started talking to me back at the warehouse. Maybe I can get it to spill the beans.”

“No,” Pepper said emphatically. “It clearly wanted you for something. How do you know it won’t try to kill you?”

“Well, it had plenty of chances before -”

“I should go in,” Steve interrupted. “If there’s any chance at all it’s actually Bucky -”

“Which is exactly why you won’t,” Hill rounded on Steve. “That thing’s got your friend’s face, and you’re still not entirely recovered from it _shooting you_. You’re not getting near it.”

Steve set his jaw. Hill seemed to take that as acquiescence.

“We have interrogators for a reason, people,” she growled. “I’ll let you know as soon as we find something out. Stark?”

“Yes, sir?” I asked sarcastically.

She pointed at the scientists. “See what you can do. I want to know what this thing is. Yesterday.”

Pepper coughed and Hill winced. “If that’s alright with you, of course, Miss Potts.”

“Of course, _Miss_ Hill,” Pepper said pointedly. “I’m sure Tony would be happy to help. Far from the actual prisoner, of course.”

Steve and I watched them go.

“I’m getting into that cell,” Steve said quietly, lips barely moving.

“Sure you are, Sparky.” I smacked him on the shoulder. _Not if I get there first._

 

\-----

 

I knew Steve would strike in the middle of the night. Wait until the night crew was on, use his Captain America voice to convince the guards to let him in.

So I waited until early afternoon. Shift change, new faces, hopefully someone who hadn’t heard Hill tell me to leave it alone. I left the scientists in their lab, muttering something about parties and booze to explain my departure, and just waved my way past the guard at the end of the hall while mouthing “science!” He can’t have worked in Stark Tower long - he looked far too starstruck to be a regular.

I stopped outside the cell, giving the locking mechanism a onceover. This room had been modified to hold the Hulk, but we’d never had a chance to properly test it against Banner’s strength. Lights were dim in the room - was it naptime for super soldiers? - but I could see the edge of his shoulder through the window. Far side of the room, plenty of space to get in and close the door before he could get out.

“Jarvis?”

The lock popped. The door pulled open easily, and I -

WHAM

I slammed into the back wall of the hallway, barely remembering to tuck my chin to avoid another concussion.

There was a flash of black, and the Winter Soldier darted past me.

_Shitshitshitshi-_

And there, stumbling out of the cellblock with nasty-looking bruises circling his throat, was Captain America himself.

“Tony,” he wheezed. “Where -”

I pointed down the hallway and he took off.

I picked myself up and stumbled after him, back the way I’d come. The guard I’d passed earlier was out cold, his holster empty.

 _Shit_.

“Jarvis,” I snapped. “Location?”

“He is in the elevator shaft, heading upward. Captain Rogers is in pursuit. Would you like me to call the elevator?”

“Only if it’s below them,” I said. “And have the suit ready if I call.” I stopped outside the mangled elevator door, and it only took a second to _ding_ its arrival.

“Follow them. Carefully, Jarvis.”

“They have already reached the roof, sir.”

“Then _hurry_ ,” I snarled. No suit. Had to show her my face, had to get her to remember. My heart sped up, remembering the last time I’d challenged someone dangerous in my tower without a suit. _And this time, I’m going looking for them._

The elevator came to a stop and I rushed out, up the stairs and through the access door - and into a standoff.

“You don’t understand,” the Soldier snarled, balancing on the edge of the roof. I could barely hear him over the wind whipping around us, but his gun didn’t waver from Cap’s heart. “The wolf woman is in danger.”

“Bucky,” Cap pleaded, extending one hand cautiously to warn me back. “Just step forward, it’ll be ok.”

“I’m not Bucky!” the Winter Soldier darted a glance backward.

“You are!” Cap shouted back. “You’re James Barnes, you’re my _friend_ -”

“I am _not Bucky!_ ” As if to emphasize the point, his features started to blur together. Slowly, almost reluctantly, Rachel’s face appeared.

I felt my chest constrict, lungs gasping desperately for air. It was _her_. Still young, impossibly sixteen and as beautiful as ever.

There was nothing else for it. I stepped out from behind Cap, trying to remember how to be - how to be Marco.

“Hey, Xena,” I said, shouting to be heard over the wind. “If you want to help Cassie, you’re going to need some help.”

"Tony, what -"

She shuddered, looking at me with something very like fear in her eyes. “I’m not - what did you call me?”

“Xena, Warrior Princess,” I supplied, taking a cautious step forward. “It’s a nickname, Rachel. It’s a - it’s a joke.”

“You -” she shook her head, swinging the gun around to point at my chest. “I don’t know who you are.”

I could feel Cap’s eyes on my face, but I didn’t dare turn to look. “Yes, you do. You know me.”

Her finger tightened on the trigger. “Anthony Stark. Codename: Iron Man.”

“That’s not my name, Rachel. It’s me, it’s Mar-”

Her voice rose above mine. “Father: Howard Stark. Mother: Maria Stark. Classification: deceased. Assassinated by the Winter Soldier. Mission parameters -”

She kept talking, but time seemed to stop. The gun swung up to point directly between my eyes, but I didn’t care. I turned to look at Cap, remembering what he’d said about - about his _friend._

His face was just as devastated as mine. “Tony -”

Behind me, barely audible above the wind, I heard her finish: “New mission: Eliminate threat. Acquire asset.”

I heard the gun fire. I saw Cap fall.

And then she grabbed me and threw us both off the roof.


	9. Chapter 9

MARCO   
  


“Jarvis!” I screamed over the rushing wind. “De-oof!”

Rachel’s fist took me in the stomach, spinning me around and stealing what little breath I had. She latched onto my waist with her legs, using her hands to strip me of my bracelets and the comlink in my ear.

“Morph!” she screamed in my ear. She crushed the comlink between her fingers, throwing the pieces and the bracelets as far from us as she could before pushing off to fall a few feet from me.

I saw feathers spread down her arms, body shifting and melting.

_ Osprey _ , I thought desperately.  _ Pigeon, seagull, SOMETHING - _

The ground was rushing up too fast, too - I could see my bracelets twirling away ten feet above me and five feet to my right. So close, but they might as well have been football fields away.

I tried to grab onto a single image, tried to focus on one bird rather than  _ every bird ever _ , but I couldn’t - I couldn’t -

Something red and blue blurred across the corners of my vision, something hit me with an  _ ooof  _ of rushing air, and suddenly I wasn't falling, I was flying.

“- a mutant bird just push you off a building? Holy crap, this is the  _ coolest day ever!” _

The wind rushed past my ears with a whistle. My face was buried in what felt like - cotton?

The wind slowed and stopped and suddenly I was stumbling to my feet on the pavement.

The red blur swung away, his final words floating back - “Stay safe, dude, gotta catch a supervillain!”

I overbalanced, tripping over my own feet and falling backwards. The street was relatively quiet - stuck in that mini lull that struck after lunch but before rush hour - and the few people wandering through were too busy watching the  _ masked man swinging from skyscrapers _ to notice that Tony Stark had just fallen on his butt.

I picked myself up quickly and looked around, trying to gather my bearings, but I didn’t need to. I could see Stark Tower down the street, just two short blocks away. At the very top, I could just barely make out a tiny bump that had to be a head poking out over the side of the roof.  _ Cap! _

I raised a hand and gave a little wave. The bump disappeared.

I slumped back against the nearest building, trying to let the adrenaline subside. Cap was ok. It was a bit of a blur, but I was pretty sure that bullet had taken him in the thigh. With his super-soldier healing, he’d be fine in a day.

_ What is it with people and throwing me off my own building? _ Just when I’d stopped having nightmares about the last time, Rachel had to come along and make me relive it.

Someone bumped into me, and my mouth was moving before I could stop it, “Hey pal, why don’t you -”

I turned to face the asshole who’d hit me, and I felt something hard dig into my back.

“Walk.”

The voice sounded like it hadn’t been used in a while - like it hadn’t just been shouting on a rooftop five minutes ago.

I was pretty sure that voice was going to be featuring prominently in my next few nightmares.

“Look, Rachel -” I took a few steps forward, then followed some well-placed prods sideways into an alley and then all the way to the darkest point, halfway between streets. I turned to face her - she’d turned back into the Winter Soldier, now clad in some nondescript sweats and gloves. “I don’t know where the hell you get off throwing me off a fucking  _ building _ , but if you’re trying to get me to help you -”

The Soldier cocked his head to the side, face coolly confused, and I felt something clench in my gut.  _ Shit shit shit. _ Suddenly, the gun in his hand seemed like even more of a threat.

The realization must have shown in my eyes, because he gave me a curt nod and said, “Captain America.”

I would have rolled my eyes if my heart had had a chance to pick one rhythm and stick to it, but I settled for witty banter instead. “Bit of a one-hit wonder, aren’t you? Ever think about getting some hobbies? I hear knitting is particularly relaxing -”

He interrupted me like I wasn’t even speaking. “You will get him out of the tower and bring him to me. Here. Now.”

I barked a laugh. “I’m really not going to do that.”

He raised an eyebrow. A thick, intimidating eyebrow. “Wasn’t a question,  _ pal _ .”

“Well, first of all, not your pal. I don’t know what kind of bullshit you usually put your friends through, but breaking their legs and chaining them up in the woods is usually dead last on the list of fun activities to do with friends -”

“Hydra broke your leg,” he interrupted, scowling in irritation. “Before I took you from them.”

“Oh good, so it’s just the chains you picked out special for me, I’m flattered -”

“Captain America.” He twitched his gun threateningly. “And I won’t even ask why your leg’s just fine.”

“Again with the mindless obsession. Well, as I was  _ about _ to say before I was so  _ rudely interrupted - _ ”

“BUCKY!”

“- I’m pretty sure he’s on his way here now.”

Steve appeared at the head of the alley, not even out of breath even though he had to have sprinted down an entire building’s worth of stairs and over two blocks to get here this fast. Blood stained his khakis from where Rachel had shot him, but he didn’t seem to notice as he started down the alley.

“ _ Fuck _ .” 

It was barely more than a tiny explosion of air, but I heard it. The Soldier seemed to have frozen, gun still pointed at me but entire body pointed toward the new arrival.

Well, hey. I might not have a suit of armor right this minute, but I hadn’t taken all those self-defense classes for nothing. 

Steve started down the alley. The Soldier’s gun wavered, swinging toward this new threat, and I lashed out with my foot. 

A small crowd appeared at the head of the alley, surrounding Steve. I saw a glint of metal out of the corner of my eye, saw him convulse and stumble and drop -

\- and my foot connected with the side of the Soldier’s knee. He stumbled, somehow caught off guard, but I had no time for that. There was blood on Steve’s shirt, and someone was plunging something into his neck, the crowd pulling him backward as a van pulled up to the curb, and I was  _ too far away -  _

I’d barely taken three steps when the van door slammed shut, screeching away with Captain America tucked inside.

“No!” The Soldier barrelled by me, knocking me out of his way and onto my hands and knees in a small pile of trash bags. By the time I had scrambled to my feet and made it to the end of the alley, there was just the Soldier, stalking back toward me.

...from the opposite direction, dressed in completely different clothes.

“Oh, fuck,” I groaned, and meant it.


End file.
